Anderson Valley Brewing Company

Anderson Valley Brewing Company taproom.

Herlinda Heras and Daedalus Howell host another edition of Brew Ha Ha, featuring guests from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. They are the official beer sponsor of the Great Dickens Fair, a Christmas celebration happening at the Cow Palace now through Dec. 21.

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(During this show, we also got a phone call from Kevin Patterson, manager of the Great Dickens Fair. His portion of this show can be heard over here, on this other podcast episode. This way both guests have their own podcast episode, for their own linking and listener traffic.)

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Jason O’Connell and Ben Padrone are here from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Jason is the new owner and Ben is the Lab Manager. They begin by tasting their Salted Caramel Porter, which gets its flavors from the malts that are used, not from any actual caramelized sugars. It is aged for 6 months in bourbon barrels and comes in at 9.5% ABV.

QA and QC

Jason’s background is in the wine industry and he finds the beer world to be more fun. He says he bought the brewery because he was bored. Ben’s job is QA and QC, quality assurance and quality control. They do a lot of testing on the water and the product. They get their water from wells that are on their property.

Anyone visiting Anderson Valley may want to visit their 18-hole championship Disc Golf course. Next year’s Booneville Beer Fest is on May 2 next year. The theme is Godzilla vs. Barkley and there is a Japanese sake connection. Stay tuned for more information before the date. They have already about a dozen breweries signed on. Among beer producers this is one of the favorite events.

Fal Allen is Back at Anderson Valley BC

Fal Allen is back.

Fal Allen is back on the scene at Anderson Valley Brewing Company. He has been the brewer there and a key person in the company. He left the company for a while and was working in New Zealand. Now he is working with AVBC for the moment from Hawaii. Fal Allen has a great radio voice and has been on Brew Ha Ha before. Here is his last appearance on Brew Ha Ha.

Next they taste their West Coast IPA, which uses Mosaic, Citra and Ekuanot hops. All seven of the beers they brought today are available at the Great Dickens Fair.

SAKE

They have a plan to start making sake and to use the best possible rice. Sake is gluten free, which is an advantage for some people. They are experimenting with Sato, a kind of rice for sake. They are also making a sake flavored beer. Herlinda remembers when her friends asked her to taste a large selection of sake to help them get an import company started. Watch out for this to develop over the next five years.